Arabian Fisherman Jinni

tale:arabian_fisherman_jinni

A poor fisherman hauls up a sealed brass jar and opens it, releasing a jinni imprisoned for centuries — who, soured by his long captivity, vows to kill his rescuer. The fisherman feigns disbelief that so vast a being could ever have fit in so small a jar; stung, the jinni dissolves back inside to prove it, and the fisherman claps the seal shut. Moral: where strength would fail, doubt and wit prevail. — Thousand and One Nights